1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a protective enclosure in which portable medical or other electronic equipment which could be damaged by exposure to water may be temporarily stored and carried by the equipment user, and more particularly to an inexpensive, disposable plastic bag into which a portable miniature medication infusion pump or similar article may be placed for a high degree of water-resistant protection when the user is showering or is outside in the rain, the bag having a strap for wearing of the bag by the user.
An alternative technique to multiple daily injections of insulin for insulin-dependent diabetics is the use of a miniature electronically-controlled infusion pump to provide a large number of small doses of insulin around the clock. Such infusion pumps are typically the size of a pack of cigarettes or smaller, and supply insulin to the user through a small infusion set having a fine needle designed for use with the infusion pump.
It may be appreciated that since insulin is delivered in a large number of small doses (typically one dose is provided every three to twelve minutes), it is desirable to have the infusion pump connected and operating continuously. It is therefore undesirable for the user to disconnect the infusion pump other than to change infusion sets or to refill the infusion pump.
One of the problems faced by most users of portable infusion pumps is the difficulty of bathing or showering while wearing the infusion pump. Since most infusion pumps are not waterproof, or even highly water-resistant, it is not possible to wear the infusion pump into the shower. The user is then faced with the undesirable alternative of either not showering but rather using an alternative bathing technique such as a sponge bath, or removing the infusion pump and infusion set to shower, a process involving shutting down the pump temporarily while showering and installing a new infusion set and restarting the infusion pump after showering.
Most users of infusion set dislike having to install infusion sets more often than absolutely necessary. To install a new infusion set (which is generally recommended after removing an infusion set for showering), the new set must first be connected to the infusion pump and primed. Following this operation, the new infusion set is located and inserted in its subcutaneous location by the user. It may be appreciated that for most users of insulin infusion pumps, it would be desirable to avoid the time-consuming and inconvenient necessity of removing the infusion pump while showering.
Similarly, users of infusion pumps must also exercise precaution when outdoors during rainy weather, since exposure of the infusion pump to rain may cause damage to the pump. When outdoors it is sometimes difficult to avoid entirely a situation where there is a possibility of encountering rain. While such an occurrence will cause only inconvenience to nonusers of a pump, for wearers of an infusion pump the damages may be substantial, including damage causing the pump to cease operations or to operate in a faulty manner. It may therefore be appreciated that the wearing of an infusion pump presents problems to the user of the device.
It should also be noted that other electronic devices used outdoors also present the similar problem of water damage in the event of exposure to rain. Examples of such devices include the popular personal tape players and radios, and small cameras.
Potential solutions to the problem must attain certain objects in order to represent true solutions to the aforementioned problems. First and foremost, a solution must represent a convenient way to protect an infusion pump used in a shower environment. The pump must be completely protected, while allowing the continued connection of the infusion set leading from the pump to the user. The solution must be easy to use, and inexpensive to purchase.
The solution must also facilitate protection of the device from a source of falling water such as that encountered in a shower of in a rainfall. Protection on the top side is thereby more critical, and any device opening on the top side thereof would most likely be unacceptable. Since critical display information is presented on a visual display in most infusion pumps, it is necessary that the solution be see-through at least in part to allow inspection of the display by the user even while the pump is being protected from the wet environment.
The protection must also be secure, since a failure of the protection would not only place the infusion pump in the wet environment, but could also subject the pump to a sharp impact if the pump falls to the floor (which fall would also be likely to rip out the infusion set in a painful manner). Finally, it is desirable that the protection be as inexpensive as possible, to thereby encourage purchase and use by pump wearers, as well as to enable the successful production and marketing of a substantial number of protection devices.